Complex k band diagrams of 3D

metamaterial/photonic crystals.
Chris Fietz,1 Yaroslav Urzhumov,2 and Gennady Shvets1,
1 Dept.
2 Center

of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke
University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
gena@physics.utexas.edu

Abstract: A finite element method (FEM) for solving a complex valued

k( ) vs. dispersion curve of a 3D metamaterial/photonic crystal system
is presented. This 3D method is a generalization of a previously reported
2D eigenvalue method [Opt. Express 15, 9681 (2007)]. This method is
particularly convenient for analyzing periodic systems containing dispersive
(e.g., plasmonic) materials, for computing isofrequency surfaces in the
k-space, and for calculating the decay length of the evanescent waves. Two
specific examples are considered: a photonic crystal comprised of dielectric
spheres and a plasmonic fishnet structure. Hybridization and avoided
crossings between Mie resonances and propagating modes are numerically
demonstrated. Negative index propagation of four electromagnetic modes
distinguished by their symmetry is predicted for the plasmonic fishnets. By
calculating the isofrequency contours, we also demonstrate that the fishnet
structure is a hyperbolic medium.
2011 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (160.3918) Metamaterials; (160.5298) Photonic crystals.

References and links

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Received 31 May 2011; revised 1 Jul 2011; accepted 14 Jul 2011; published 15 Sep 2011

26 September 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 20 / OPTICS EXPRESS 19027

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21. Both .m and .mph files for the sphere photonic crystal model can be acquired by contacting Chris Fietz at fietz.
chris@gmail.com.
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36. M. Navarro-Ca, M. Beruete, M. Sorolla, and I. Campillo, Negative refraction in a prism made of stacked subwavelength hole arrays, Opt. Express 16, 560566 (2008).
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26 September 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 20 / OPTICS EXPRESS 19028

1.

Introduction

The numerical simulation of electromagnetic fields inside both metamaterial and photonic crystals is an important tool for analyzing these periodic structures. In particular, the eigenmodes
of crystals, defined as freely propagating waves not coupled to external currents, are often of
the most interest. The conventional method [2,3] of numerically solving for crystal eigenmodes
is to define the geometry of the unit cell of the crystal of interest and the differential equation
that the fields must obey in this geometry and then impose Bloch periodic boundary conditions.
The partial differential equation problem is then discretized using one of the many standard
methods (finite element, finite integral, finite difference, etc.) thereby turning it into an algebraic eigenvalue problem with a finite number of degrees of freedom and the frequency as
the eigenvalue. This finite sized eigenvalue problem is then solved numerically. An important
detail of this method is that the Bloch wavenumber k is chosen beforehand, and the frequency is
then computed as a function of the wavenumber, yielding the dispersion curves = (k). This
is the most commonly used method for calculating dispersion curves of the electromagnetic
waves propagating in photonic crystals or in closely related metamaterial crystals.
There are however, many instances where it is more convenient to specify the frequency
and solve for the wavenumber as a function of frequency: k = k( ). At least five such instances
can be identified. First, metamaterials often contain dispersive materials such as metals, where
the dielectric function strongly depends on the frequency of the wave. In this case, the eigenfrequency problem becomes a nonlinear eigenvalue problem and must be solved iteratively [4]. In
contrast, when solving for the wavenumber as a function of frequency, the resulting eigenvalue
problem only needs to be solved once. Second, to describe the microscopic electromagnetic
response of a metamaterial inclusion many researchers use tabulated data for the permittivity, such as the data found in Ref. [5]. These tabulated material parameters are functions of a
real valued and should not be used for (k) eigenvalue simulations where is often complex valued. Third, it is often useful to solve for the wavenumber as the eigenvalue because
of the information contained in the complex wavenumber including the decay lengths of the
electromagnetic modes (either due to finite dissipation or because of the evanescent nature of
the mode) and the figure of merit [6] of negative index modes. Fourth, in the majority of experiments electromagnetic fields inside metamaterial/photonic crystals are excited by external
sources producing time-harmonic fields with real valued frequencies. A complex wavenumber eigenvalue simulation provides the correct field distribution in the photonic crystal relevant
to such an experiment. Finally, this approach provides a very natural way of calculating the
so-called isofrequency surfaces corresponding to (k) = const, where is real. Isofrequency
diagrams are fundamentally important for predicting wave refraction at the PC interfaces [7]
and for calculating the density of states [8].
There are several previously published methods on calculating k( ) dispersion curves including variations of the plane-wave expansion method [9, 10] and diagonalizing the crystal
transfer matrix [11, 12]. A method of solving for complex wavenumber dispersion curves using the FEM has been proposed [13, 14] but only for 2D crystals. The benefits of a complex
wavenumber 2D FEM are becoming better appreciated and use of this method is becoming
more common [1519]. It is therefore timely to generalize this method of Complex Wavenumber Eigenvalue Simulations (CWES) from two to three dimension, which is the object of this
paper. This 3D complex wavenumber eigenvalue simulation was recently used as part of a
metamaterial homogenization procedure [20].
The basic theory behind solving for complex wavenumber eigenvalues using the FEM discretization is explained in Sec. 2. The underlying field equations for the electric and magnetic
fields and the necessary boundary conditions are discussed. In Sec. 3 we apply this method to a
3D photonic crystal consisting of non-dispersive dielectric spheres. The photonic band structure

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for electromagnetic waves propagating both parallel and obliquely to the principal axes is calculated, and different types of modes (transverse and longitudinal) are identified. This simple
model [21] can be solved with the commercial FEM software package COMSOL Multiphysics.
In Sec. 4 we calculate the dispersion curves for a negative index fishnet metamaterial [22] and
demonstrate the existence of four distinct negative index modes. We also calculate the twodimensional isofrequency contours for the least damped transverse mode and demonstrate from
the shape of the isofrequency contours that this transverse mode is hyperbolic.
2.
2.1.

The finite element eigenvalue problem

The field equation

In this section we present the FEM formulation for solving for the magnetic field. Electromagnetic wave propagation is described by the Maxwell equations which can be rearranged into a
wave equation for either the electric field E or the magnetic field H. The wave equation for the
magnetic field is


2
1
H 2 H = 0.
(1)

c
Here (x) and (x) are the microscopic permittivity and permeability of the metamaterial/photonic crystal of interest. Due to the periodic nature of the crystal both are are assumed
to be scalar functions periodic in the crystal lattice. According to Blochs theorem [2, 3] the
magnetic field can be represented as the product of a periodic function and an exponential
factor
(2)
H(x) = u(x) exp[i( t k x)],
where is the frequency of the wave and k is the wavevector of the Bloch-Floquet wave. u(x)
is a vector function which is periodic in the crystal lattice. By inserting Eq. (2) into Eq. (1) we
obtain an equivalent field equation for u






1
1
1
k2
k
2
u (k u) ik
u i
ku +
u 2 u = 0, (3)

c
which can be interpreted as an eigenvalue problem and solved for the Bloch wavenumber k
as the eigenvalue. The spatial profile of the eigenmode u(x) is also recovered providing the
magnetic field profile according to Eq. (2) and the electric field profile according to
E(x) =
2.2.

1
1
H =
(ik u + u) exp[i( t k x)]
i /c
i /c

(4)

The finite element model

There are several commercial FEM software programs (COMSOL Multiphysics by COMSOL,
HFSS by Ansys, Vector Fields Opera by Cobham Technical Services, etc.) that are available
for modeling metamaterial/photonic crystals. These commercial software packages provide a
convenient graphical user interface for defining a crystals geometry, meshing the computational domain, and visualizing the electromagnetic fields. This allows for models to be quickly
developed and tested. Of the many commercial FEM codes available, the authors of this paper are only aware of one (COMSOL Multiphysics) that allows the user to specify the field
equation to be solved. The simulation examples and results presented here were obtained using COMSOL. The FEM model used for the photonic crystal described in Sec. 3 is available
for download [21]. In what follows, only the most essential features of the FEM approach are
reviewed; more detailed treatments can be found elsewhere [2325].

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The FEM is based on setting the integral of a so-called weak expression over the domain
of interest to zero. Doing so ensures the field equation is satisfied and also creates boundary
conditions. The weak expression corresponding to Eq. (3) is
FH (v, u) =

k2
1
1
1
v u (k v) (k u) i v [k ( u)] i ( v) (k u)

1
2
+ ( v) ( u) 2 v u,

(5)

where v(x) is a test function. When the integral of the weak expression over the unit cell of
the crystal is set to zero, integrating by parts gives us two separate integrals (Eq. (6)). The first
integral enforces the field equation. The second integral is over the boundary of the domain and
represents a natural boundary condition [23, 24],
0

=
=

d 3 x FH (v, u)




1
1
1
d 3 x v k (k u) i k ( u) i
ku



2
1
u 2 u
+

c



dA v n

(6)


1
(ik u + u) ,

where n is the vector normal to the boundary. On an external boundary, the natural boundary
condition enforced by the integral in Eq. (6) over the boundary forces the expression n
(ik u + u) / to be equal to zero. Recalling Eq. (4) we note that this simply enforces the
boundary condition n E = 0. This is known as the perfect electric conductor or PEC boundary
condition. This natural boundary condition is the default if no other boundary condition is
enforced. On an internal boundary within the unit cell the surface integrals over each side of
the boundary must be equal to each other. The effect is that the tangential components of the
electric field must be continuous across the internal boundary or n E+ = n E where E+
and E are the electric fields on opposite sides of the internal boundary.
The periodicity of u is enforced by imposing periodic boundary conditions on the exterior
boundaries of the unit cell. In COMSOL, these periodic boundary conditions override the natural boundary condition. However, if a PEC boundary condition is desired inside the unit cell
(e.g., on the surface of a metal inclusion) this can be accomplished by removing the subdomain
representing the metal inclusion. Now only the exterior side of the metal boundary remains and
the natural boundary condition forces the tangential electric fields to zero on this boundary.
If a perfect magnetic conductor or PMC boundary condition (n H) is desired while solving
for the magnetic field, this can be enforced with constraints [23] on the tangential magnetic
field on the boundary.
In order to turn Eq. (6) into an eigenvalue problem, the three degrees of freedom that comprise the Bloch wavevector k must be reduced to one by restricting two degrees of freedom.
This is accomplished by setting k = k0 + k n where will be the eigenvalue solved for, k0 is
an offset vector and k n is a unit vector (k n k n = 1). Note that since there are many possible
ways to restrict these two degrees of freedom, the resulting complex k( ) vs. dispersion
curves are in general not unique. The FEM turns the weak form and accompanying boundary

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conditions into an algebraic problem, in this case a quadratic eigenvalue problem [26]:
Au + Bu + 2 Cu = 0,

(7)

where A, B and C are N N matrices and u is an N 1 solution vector. N is the number of

degrees of freedom of the discretized system. Terms in the weak form (Eq. (5)) that are zero,
first and second order in contribute to the A, B and C matrices respectively. This quadratic
eigenvalue problem can be recast in the form of a generalized eigenvalue equation






A B
u
0 C
u
=
.
(8)
0 1
u
u
1 0
When using COMSOL to solve the FEM problem, this linearization is performed automatically
during the solution stage.
2.3.

Electric field formulation

The previous discussion focused on solving for the magnetic field H or rather the periodic
function u equal to the magnetic field with the exponential Bloch factor removed. This is especially convenient when an inclusion requires a PEC boundary condition since that is the natural
boundary condition when solving for H. However, solving for the electric field is very similar
to solving for the magnetic field. The wave equation for the electric field for a free wave is


2
1
E 2 E = 0.
(9)

c
As before, we replace the electric field with a periodic vector field times an exponential factor
E(x) = u(x) exp[i( t k x)],

(10)

producing the new field equation







1
1
1
k2
k
2
u (k u) ik
u i
ku +
u 2 u = 0. (11)

c
The corresponding weak form for this field equation is
FE (v, u) =

k2
1
1
1
v u (k v) (k u) i v [k ( u)] i ( v) (k u)

1
2
+ ( v) ( u) 2 v u,

(12)

which is equivalent to Eq. (5) if and are interchanged. Integrating this weak form over the
crystal unit cell by parts and setting its value to zero again gives produces two integrals, one
enforcing the field equation and a surface integral enforcing the boundary condition n H = 0.
Thus the PMC boundary condition is the natural boundary condition when solving for the
electric field.
3.

Example: dielectric photonic crystal

For a demonstration of the CWES method of calculating complex k dispersion curves we use a
simple photonic crystal as an example. The unit cell, pictured in Fig. 1, is a cube with a dielectric
sphere at the center surrounded by vacuum. The sphere has a radius of 0.3a, where a is the
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(a)

(c/a)

(c/a)

Transverse mode
(b)
5

3
2

1
1

0.5
0
0.5
Re(kx ) (/a)

1
0.5 0.25
0
0.25
Im(kx ) (/a)

0.5

Longitudinal modes
(d)
5

(c)

(c/a)

(c/a)

1
1

0.5
0
0.5
Re(kx ) (/a)

1
2

1
0
1
Im(kx ) (/a)

Fig. 1. Complex k dispersion curves and field profiles for eigenmodes of the photonic
crystal pictured in the inset assuming k0 = 0 and k n = x . (a) Real part of kx ( ) for a
transversely polarized mode and a diagram of the crystal unit cell. (b) Imaginary part of
kx ( ) for a transversely polarized mode and a field profile for the z polarized transverse
mode. There are two transverse modes, y and z electrically polarized, which are degenerate.
(c) Real part of kx ( ) for two longitudinally polarized modes and a field profile for the
magnetic longitudinal mode. (d) Imaginary part of kx ( ) for two longitudinally polarized
modes and a field profile for the electric longitudinal mode. The longitudinal mode with the
passband near = 4.5c/a is magnetically polarized in the x direction and the longitudinal
mode with the passband near = 5c/a is electrically polarized in the x direction. The
longitudinal modes correspond to Mies dipole resonances. For all dispersion curves the
dotted lines are the result of a conventional (k) eigenvalue simulation. For all field profiles
the frequency is = 2c/a with arrows representing Dy and Dz and color representing Dx .

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lattice constant of the cubic array, and a permittivity of = 5 i0.01. Arrays of spheres as well
as arrays of point dipoles are both systems that have been studied extensively by metamaterial
researchers [2730].
As mentioned in Sec. 2.2, it is necessary to restrict two of the three degrees of freedom of the
Bloch wavevector k. There are many possible ways to do this. As the first example, we calculate
the dispersion curves corresponding to the propagation along a principal axis. To simulate this
we set k0 = 0 and k n = x . The results of this eigenvalue simulation for the frequency range
1c/a 5.5c/a are plotted in Fig. 1 as vs. kx = x k = .
For clarity, we have only plotted the three least evanescent (i.e. possessing the smallest values
of Im(kz )) eigenmodes. These three k( ) dispersion curves are plotted as solid lines. For comparison, we have also ploted a conventional (k) dispersion curve as dotted line. The three
eigenmodes in Fig. 1 are described as either transverse or longitudinal according to their polarization. The symmetry of the dispersion curves is such that for every solution k( ) there is
also the solution k( ) indicating that this is a reciprocal crystal. The dispersion curves for the
transverse modes plotted in Fig. 1 in fact represent two polarization-degenerate modes because
of the symmetry of the crystal. The longitudinal mode with the passband near = 4.5c/a is
magnetically polarized in the x direction making it a magnetic bulk plasmon. The longitudinal
mode with the passband near = 5c/a is electrically polarized in the x direction and is an
electric bulk plasmon. The field profiles of both longitudinal modes indicate that the passbands
correspond to Mies resonances of the dielectric sphere [31].
The transverse mode dispersion curve has a band in the approximate frequency range
4.6c/a < < 4.8c/a with a large value of Im(kx ), indicating it is an evanescent band, but
a Re(kx ) that is equal to neither 0 nor /a as is typical of (k) dispersion curves. As described
in Refs. [13, 26] for a quadratic eigenvalue problem with hermitian matrices (corresponding
to a lossless crystal) the eigenvalues must always be real or come in complex-conjugate pairs.
The dielectric photonic crystal under consideration has very low loss, so this lossless condition approximately holds true for the dispersion curves in Fig. 1. The transverse band in the
4.6c/a < < 4.8c/a frequency band is one half of a complex conjugate pair, the other half is
a transverse doubly degenerate mode not shown here. At the frequency of 4.8c/a the two
modes that make up this complex conjugate pair both enter a passband and split, the plotted
mode going to the point and the unplotted mode going to the band edge (this unplotted mode
corresponds to the dotted lines in Fig. 1 from the (k) simulation). Note that in this passband
there are two pairs of propagating doubly polarization degenerate modes or four propagating
modes in total.
The transverse eigenmodes plotted in Fig. 1 can be excited by a plane wave normally incident
onto the vacuum/photonic crystal interface if the interface is parallel to the y-z plane. The
longitudinally polarized modes could not be excited by a normally incident wave without the
aid of a coupling device at the interface. If the incident beam of light is not normal to the
interface, if for example the incident beam has a wavenumber laying in the x-y plane but at
a 30 angle from normal then a different set of eigenmodes will be excited at the interface.
To simulate these excited eigenmodes we set k0 = /c sin( /6)y and k n = x and solve the
resulting eigenvalue problem. The resulting photonic band structure is plotted in Fig. 2.
The eigenmodes in Fig. 2 are roughly split into predominantly-transverse (transverse hybrid) and predominantly-longitudinal (longitudinal hybrid) modes. The hybridization between
the transverse and longitudinal modes is caused by the finite symmetry-breaking ky . Both the
transverse and longitudinal hybrid modes in Fig. 2 can be characterized by the polarization of
the incident light that couples to them. For a p polarized incident beam (electric field in the
x-y plane) the p polarized eigenmode is excited (plotted in Fig. 2 with solid lines) and for an s
polarized incident beam (electric field in the z direction) the s polarized eigenmode is excited

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(a)

(c/a)

(c/a)

Transverse hybrid modes

(b)
5

3
2

1
1

0.5
0
0.5
Re(kx ) (/a)

1
0.8

0.4
0
0.4
Im(kx ) (/a)

0.8

Longitudinal hybrid modes

(d)
5

(c)

(c/a)

(c/a)

1
1

0.5
0
0.5
Re(kx ) (/a)

1
2

1
0
1
Im(kx ) (/a)

Fig. 2. Complex wavenumber dispersion curves and field profiles for eigenmodes of the
photonic crystal pictured in Fig. 1(a) assuming k0 = /c sin( /6)y and k n = x . Modes
excited by p or s polarized incident light are plotted with solid or dashed lines respectively.
(a) Real part of kx ( ) for two transverse hybrid modes and a expanded view of the avoided
crossing in Re(kx ) space. (b) Imaginary part of kx ( ) for two transverse hybrid modes,
an expanded view of the avoided crossing in Im(kx ) space (plotting the same modes as
the expanded view in Re(kx ) space), and a field profile for the Ez polarized transverse hybrid mode. (c) Real part of kx ( ) for two longitudinal hybrid modes and a field profile for
the magnetic longitudinal hybrid mode. (d) Imaginary part of kx ( ) for two longitudinal
hybrid modes and a field profile for the electric longitudinal hybrid mode. The magnetic
longitudinal hybrid mode is excited by s polarized incident light and the electric longitudinal hybrid mode is excited by p polarized incident light. For all field profiles the frequency
is = 2c/a with arrows representing Dy and Dz and color representing Dx .

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Received 31 May 2011; revised 1 Jul 2011; accepted 14 Jul 2011; published 15 Sep 2011

26 September 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 20 / OPTICS EXPRESS 19035

(plotted in Fig. 2 with dashed lines).

At the frequency 4c/a the transverse hybrid modes and the longitudinal hybrids modes
appear to cross in a propagating band. An expanded view of this region in Fig. 2 plotting both
transverse and longitudinal hybrid modes shows that the apparent crossing actually occurs in
a band gap. Viewed in complex kx space it is clear that this is actually an avoided crossing
and in the band gap the transverse and longitudinal hybrid modes form complex conjugate
pairs [13, 26].
We see that even for a simple photonic crystal the CWES method of calculating the dispersion
curve produces rich and complex results. In particular, it is not possible to solve for evanescent
eigenmodes using the conventional (k) method for calculating dispersion curves.
4.

Example: negative index plasmonic fishnet

The second example highlighting the versatility of the CWES method is a plasmonic negative index metamaterial (NIM) shown in Fig. 3. Because this metamaterial contains dispersive
(plasmonic) components, it is even more convenient to use this method because the dielectric permittivities of metals are tabulated for real-valued frequencies. Recent experiments [22]
demonstrated that the so-called fishnet metamaterial supports a negative index eigenmode for
near infrared wavelengths of about 0 1.7 m. The dimensions and composition of the unit
cell taken from Ref. [22] are shown in Fig. 3. The fishnet metamaterial is made of alternating
layers of Ag and MgF2 with thicknesses of 30nm and 50nm respectively. This layered structure
was milled with a focused ion beam into crisscrossing strips with widths of 265nm and 565nm.
The crystal lattice constants are ax = ay = 860nm and az = 80nm. For the dielectric response
of the Ag we used the Drude model Ag = 1 p2 /( ( i )) with the same parameters cited
in Ref. [22]: p = 9eV and = 0.054eV . It should be noted that in Ref. [22] the scattering
frequency was increased by a factor of three from that of standard bulk Ag to account for
additional scattering losses. For the dielectric response of MgF2 , no values were provided in
the original paper so we used an oscillator model of the dielectric permittivity from Ref. [32].

Fig. 3. The fishnet metamaterial from Ref. [22]. The lattice constants of the unit cell are
ax = ay = 860nm and az = 80nm. The fishnet is made up of alternating layers of Ag with a
thickness of 30nm and MgF2 with a thickness of 50nm. The widths of the the crisscrossing
fishnet strips are b1 = 265nm and b2 = 565nm.

The negative index mode reported in Ref. [22] propagates in the z direction. Therefore, we
have applied CWES to the specific case of k0 = 0 and k n = z . The resulting dispersion curves
are plotted in Fig. 4 for the 100T Hz < /2 < 300T Hz frequency range. For clarity we have
only plotted the four eigenmodes that have the smallest values of Im(kz ) and therefore the
longest propagation lengths. The negative index mode found in Ref. [22] is labeled Ex to indicate that it is transversely polarized with the electric field pointing in the x direction. We can
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Received 31 May 2011; revised 1 Jul 2011; accepted 14 Jul 2011; published 15 Sep 2011

26 September 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 20 / OPTICS EXPRESS 19036

300

(a)

Frequency (THz)

Frequency (THz)

300

250

200
Ey

(b)

250

200
Ey
Ez

Ez

0.5
0
0.5
Re(kz ) (/az )

Ex Transverse Mode

(c)

(e)

Ex

150

Ex
1

0.2

(d)

1
y
0

0.1
0
0.1
Im(kz ) (/az )

Ez Longitudinal Mode

150

Ex Transverse Mode

0.2
1

1
1

z
0
x
1

Fig. 4. TOP: Real (a) and imaginary (b) parts of kz ( ) for several eigenmodes of the fishnet
metamaterial shown in Fig. 3. In addition to the transverse mode electrically polarized in the
x direction labeled Ex which was identified in Ref. [22] we see two other transverse modes
electrically polarized in the y direction labeled Ey and a longitudinal mode electrically
polarized in the z direction labeled Ez . MIDDLE: Field profiles for the transverse Ex mode
(c) and the longitudinal Ez mode (d) on a cross-section laying on the x-y plane in the middle
of the MgF2 layer. Arrows represent in-plane electric field and color represents the Ez field.
BOTTOM: (e) Field profile of the transverse Ex mode on a cross-section laying on the x-z
plane halfway between two thin Ag-MgF2 strips. Arrows represent in-plane electric field
and color represents the Hy field. For all field profiles the frequency is 175T Hz and each
region is labeled Ag or MgF2 according the the material of the region. Unlabeled regions
are vacuum.

see that it is a negative index mode because (according to the convention where fields are Bloch
periodic with the exponential factor exp[i( t k x)]) a negative index mode should have a
wavenumber whose real and imaginary parts have the same sign. In Fig. 4, that describes the
Ex mode for frequencies below 200T Hz. In addition, we observe three other negative index
modes, though they generally have a shorter propagation lengths than the Ex mode. Of these

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Received 31 May 2011; revised 1 Jul 2011; accepted 14 Jul 2011; published 15 Sep 2011

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(a)

5
Ez

10

Ex

(b)

Ey
1/|Im(kz )| (m)

FOM Re(kz )/Im(kz )

15

3
2
Ex
1

150

200
250
Frequency (THz)

300

Ey
Ez

150

200
250
Frequency (THz)

300

Fig. 5. The FOM (a) and propagation length (b) for the four fishnet eigenmodes identified
in Fig. 4. Note that though the mode labeled Ex has the largest propagation length it also
has the smallest FOM. The negative value of FOM for the Ex mode for frequencies above
220T Hz indicates that it is no longer a negative index mode at these higher frequencies.

three modes, the two labeled Ey are transversely polarized with the electric field pointing in the
y direction and the mode labeled Ez is longitudinally polarized with the electric field pointing
in the z direction.
The figure of merit (FOM) is a number commonly used to quantify the quality of a negative
index material. It is often defined [6] as the ratio between the real and imaginary parts of the
index of refraction. For eigenmodes of the fishnet crystal with real and a complex k pointing in the z direction this is equivalent to the ratio between the real and imaginary parts of kz
or FOM Re(kz )/Im(kz ). Without knowledge of the complex wavenumber of an eigenmode
of a metamaterial, the figure of merit must be calculated indirectly. For example, in Ref. [22]
the FOM is estimated numerically from simulated transmission through a fishnet sample. With
knowledge of the complex wavenumbers of the crystal eigenmodes, it is possible to calculate
the FOM directly. The FOM for each of the four eigenmodes identified in Fig. 4 is plotted in
Fig. 5(a), along with the propagation lengths plotted in Fig. 5(b). A positive FOM corresponds
to the real and imaginary parts of kz having the same sign, therefore indicating a negative index eigenmode. We see again that all four modes are in fact negative index modes in a fairly
broad 150T Hz < /2 < 200T Hz frequency range. Somewhat unexpectedly, the mode experimentally observed in Ref. [22] (labelled Ex ) has the lowest FOM despite having the longest
propagation length. The theoretically predicted FOM 7.5 of the Ex mode is a factor of 2
higher than the experimentally measured FOM [22], which could be attributed to fabrication
imperfections.
The existence of multiple negative index waves in the fishnet structure has important experimental implications. For some frequencies (e.g., at 150T Hz) the propagation length of the
longitudinal mode (Ez ) is as long as that of the primary transverse mode (Ex ). While the original experiments [22] only excited the Ex mode by using the light normally incident onto the
x y vacuum/fishnet interface, one can envision exciting both Ex and Ez modes using obliquely
incident light. For example, if p-polarized light is obliquely incident with the incident wavevector laying in the x-z plane (electric field laying in the x-z plane), then both Ex and Ez modes
will be launched into the fishnet with different phase velocities. Their refraction by the fishnet prism [22] would give rise to two distinct beams. The existence of the additional strongly

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Received 31 May 2011; revised 1 Jul 2011; accepted 14 Jul 2011; published 15 Sep 2011

26 September 2011 / Vol. 19, No. 20 / OPTICS EXPRESS 19038

dispersive longitudinal modes (bulk plasmons) also suggests that the fishnet is a metamaterial
with significant spatial dispersion that can have a strong effect on the surface waves at the vacuum/fishnet interface [33, 34]. Strong spatial dispersion is not unexpected because the fishnets
transverse period is about /2.
Recent theoretical [35] and experimental [36] studies demonstrated that negative index propagation in fishnet structures is not limited to the optical frequency range and can, in fact, be
observed with microwaves. The main physical distinction (excluding their appropriately scaled
sizes) between microwave and optical structures is that the metals in the former can be accurately described as PECs. On the other hand, in the optical range metals are described as being
plasmonic, which means that optical field penetration into the metal is significant. Our simulation can quantify how important the plasmonic properties of the metal are for the fishnet
structure from Ref. [22]. This is done by introducing the plasmonic parameter Tp [37], which
is the number that characterizes the plasmonic nature of a metamaterial and it is defined as
the ratio of the kinetic energy of the plasmonic electrons to the magnetic energy in the unit
cell of a crystal. Strong plasmonic effects and the importance of electrostatic resonances imply
Tp  1. We find that the plasmonic parameter for the mode labelled Ex in Fig. 4 at a frequency of 175T Hz is Tp = 0.24. Being less than one indicates this mode is not predominately
plasmonic in nature because the electromagnetic fields do not significantly penetrate into the
Ag. This is consistent with a recent demonstration of a negative index mode in a PEC fishnet
structure [35, 36].
Finally, we describe another application of the CWES method: calculation of isofrequency
(k) = const contours in metamaterial crystals. From the early days of metamaterials reseach,
isofrequency diagrams have been used as a simple visual tool for studying refraction at the vacuum/metamaterial interfaces, especially in the context of negative index propagation and negative refraction [38]. Traditionally, isofrequency diagrams are drawn using a conventional (k)
eigenvalue simulation [2]. This provides no information about propagation lengths which are
important in lossy metamaterials such as the fishnet. The conventional approach is also highly
laborious for plasmonic fishnets because of the strong frequency dependence of the dielectric
permittivities of metals. Other semi-analytic techniques used for analyzing wave propagation
in highly symmetric PEC-based fishnets [35] do not apply to plasmonic fishnets of interest.
Figure 6 shows an isofrequency diagram calculated using the CWES approach. A single
isofrequency contour was obtain by fixing the real frequency , setting k0 = ky y and k n = z ,
and then scanning ky from /ay to /ay . The eigenvalue in this simulation is a complex
valued kz . This procedure was repeated for several values of from the 150T Hz to 180T Hz.
The resulting eigenmodes can be be excited by a plane wave incident on an interface between
vacuum and the fishnet crystal parallel with the x -y plane if the wavevector of the incident
wave is confined to the y -z plane. Because the y component of the incident wavevector is real
valued, the y component of the wave excited in the fishnet crystal must also be real-valued.
ky = sin /c where is the incidence angle with respect to the normal z. The eigenmode
excited in the fishnet crystal decays in the z direction as indicated by the imaginary part of kz
plotted in Fig. 6.
The isofrequency contours in Fig. 6 are hyperbolic in appearance. We can study refraction at
the interface between vacuum and the fishnet crystal by comparing the isofrequency contours
of the fishnet to those of vacuum, which are also shown in Fig. 6. The vacuum isofrequency
contours are circular. As can be seen in Fig. 6 for frequency of 170T Hz and with an incident
angle of 30 the component of the incident wavevector tangential to the interface (ky ) must be
matched to the eigenmodes of the fishnet. For ky = /c sin( /6) and a frequency of 170T Hz
the isofrequency diagram shows two eigenmodes with the correct value of ky and equal and opposite values of kz . We find the correct mode by calculating the group velocity vg / Re(k)

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(a)

0.5

150 THz
160 THz
170 THz
180 THz

1
0.08 0.04
kz

0
0.04 0.08
(/az )

(/ay )

0.5

0.5

1
1

(c)

0.5

ky

(/ay )

0.5

ky

(/ay )

0.5

(b)

ky

0.5
0
0.5
Re(kz ) (/az )

1
0.2 0.1
0
0.1
Im(kz ) (/az )

0.2

Fig. 6. (a) Isofrequency contours for vacuum plotted with respect to kz and ky (b) Isofrequency contours for the Ex polarized eigenmode of the fishnet crystal plotted with respect
to Re(kz ) and ky . (c) Isofrequency contours for the Ex polarized eigenmode of the fishnet
crystal plotted with respect to Im(kz ) and ky . The black arrows indicate the direction of the
phase velocity and the red arrows indicate the direction of the group velocity at a frequency
of 170T Hz and ky = /c sin( /6).

which is by definition normal to the isofrequency contours. In the absence of anomalous dispersion the group velocity indicates the direction of energy flow in the crystal [39]. Choosing
the correct solution requires us to choose the solution that has energy flowing in the positive z
direction (i.e. away from the interface). This selects the solution with a negative Re(kz ). This is
a negative index mode in the sense that in the z direction the phase velocity and group velocity
have opposite signs.
However, because the shape of the isofrequency contours is hyperbolic, the phase and group
velocities in the y direction have the same sign. Therefore, positive refraction at the x -y vacuum/fishnet interface is expected according to Fig. 6 despite the fact that a negative index eigenmode is excited. This does not contradict the experiment by Valentine et al. in Ref. [22], where
the fishnet structure was cut in the shape of a prism. In that experiment, the wave propagation
through the fishnet was entirely in the z direction enabling the group and phase velocities to be
antiparallel. Negative refraction indeed occurs at a vacuum-fishnet interface tilted with respect
to the principal axis of the crystal.
Finally, though we calculated the isofrequency contours in Fig. 6 by varying ky and solving
for kz , we could have alternately varied the angle of k by setting k = cos( )z + sin( )y,
varying the angle and solving for as the eigenvalue. This would have produced similar but
slightly different isofrequency contours. This is an example of how the complex k dispersion
curves in this paper are not unique and depend on how one restricts the three degrees of freedom
kx , ky and kz to one degree of freedom .
5.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have presented a three-dimensional realization of the Complex Wavenumber Eigenvalue Simulation (CWES) approach to calculating photonic band structure of metamaterial/photonic crystals. A detailed implementation of CWES using FEM discretization is
described. The CWES approach was applied to two periodic photonic structures: (a) photonic
crystal comprised of dielectric spheres, and (b) plasmonic fishnet metamaterial supporting negative refractive index waves. For case (a) we have used the results of CWES to identify both
transverse and longitudinal modes and investigated their coupling that gives rise to avoided
crossings and bandgap formation. For case (b) we have identified, for the first time, four
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Received 31 May 2011; revised 1 Jul 2011; accepted 14 Jul 2011; published 15 Sep 2011

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negative-index modes of the fishnet structure and computed hyperbolic isofrequency surfaces
for the least-damped transverse mode. The sphere photonic crystal model is available for download [21].
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the developers of MUMPS [40], ARPACK [41,42], PETSC [43]
and SLEPC [44]. Support of the staff of the Texas Advanced Computing Center is gratefully
acknowledged. This work was supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Office
of Naval Research.

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Received 31 May 2011; revised 1 Jul 2011; accepted 14 Jul 2011; published 15 Sep 2011

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